Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-12-03
RED LENA'S FATE.
a LURio STORY OF A FEMALE
ANARCHIST IN GERMANY.
She Was the Leader of q Hand of Des-
peratc Men and Had Sworn to he the
Death of Il Police Captain Who Had
Jiitcd Her.
Special Corrcspondence.l


\ woman was the spcaker-an intelli-
gent looking, well dressed woman, whose
age was not over 80 and whose manner
was ladylike The statement was not
made with particular emphasis boastfully,
bat quietly and in the course of talk on
the spread Of Socialism. After leaving
the fair follower of Herr Most, | CHANGED
to meet, the same evening, an acquaint-
ance who had been on the police force in
Germany at q time when much trouble
was had with Anarchists and Socialists.
Upon my telling him of my conversation
with the woman Anarchist mentioned, he
said:
"Whilc was in Germany had m ex-
pcrience with Il woman Anarchist, but one
who was of a different class Of life than
the one you met today. The city in which
| was had become greatly excited through
fear of an Anarchist uprising, and l was
one of Il number Of men detailed as de-
tcctiycS to watch persons suspected of be-
ing Anarchists or in sympathy with them
The names of several women were on the
suspected list, and my detail was to watch
one Of them particularly. Her name was
Lena Diedricksen. 1t was reported that
she was the leader of small band Of the
Anarchists, and had become as expert in
the use Of the rifle 1t their secret meet
i
remember well how she looked the first
day l saw her. She was about 25 years
old: of medium height, and had q strong
and shapcly figure. Her features were
regular, her complexion clear, and her
face as whole showed a good deal of
character. She was pronounced blonde
with large and clear blue eyes. She lived
with her father, who was a middle aged
man spending most of his tine writing
articles for the Socialistic papers. Their
home was story and II half, tumbled
| down house on the outskirts of the city
u had not been on the case many days
| before | learned enough to convince me
| that it was rot love Of the cause
alone tAat made this young woman such
! "co!ouS Anarchist. | discovered what
believed to lie the secret Of her life Be
| c"21c Of Il wrong she f2ncied one of the
| police captains had done her, she had
| Joined the ranks of the Anarchists for re-
| VcnGc. Several years before she had mis-
| interpreted number Of acts Of kindness
on tho part Of the officer, and being of an
imaginative nature had fallen desperately
il love with him. Consequently not long
alterWard, when he ceased to notice her
and married another girl, she became flu
rious. No force Of argument could per-
suad2 her that she had not been bascly
deceived, and she DrOOdCd over this one
idea until she had but one object in mind
That was the death of the officer Natur-
ally her father and his Anarchist friends
| encouraged her hatred CT the police and
it was Tot long before she had joined
heartily in their ideas and plans.
THAT the Girl had become very active
among them, and had, in fact, become a
sort Of leader l quickly discovered One
day | Glanced upon information verifying
! the TO. 0rt that - yveS ba lnnJor ~ n
band OF twelve men, and that they met
| frequently in secret But where they met
| couldn't find out
at was on the night of widespread
and serious riot, when number of po-
| licemcn and others were killed by an up
rising Of the Anarchists, that | saw the
woman in fall war paint. After a vollcy
had been fired into the mob saw her
waving n red flag and followed closely by
abo"t dozen desperate looking men,
make the lvclieSt sort of an attack upon
the company Of police headed by the cap
tain whom she so bitterly hated. The ar
rival at the same moment OF u relief squad
was probably the only thing that saved
| his life. | shall never FORGET the sight of
| that trCn1ied woman, with an expression
on her face of intense hatred, leading that
band Of men through the smoke and in
the very face of the bullets. Several Of
her followers were killed in the riot, and
she and the rest of them disappeared so
quickly in the confusion and darkness that
none was caught.
AS Yves only 20 be expected, the threats
naac tho next day hy the Anarchists were
loud and bitter. in going around among,
them made an important discovery. One
who h2d become thoroughly frightened at
the result of tie uprising on the night
previous told ITO thDt Red Lena'-this